More a Mustache Toddler now but still getting into hairy situations, Baby Billy's still good fun.
Has Mustache Baby met a buddy...or a rival?
Baby Billy was born with a mustache that’s usually a good-guy mustache but on occasion curls up into a bad-guy mustache. When readers last saw him, he'd met bearded Baby Javier. Billy decides to show Javier how he's the “sharpest shooter in the west” (shooting hoops) and can "work on the railroad all the livelong day" (lay toy train tracks). But Javier knows a thing or two, like how to "wrassle a bear" (a teddy) and catch fish with his bare hands (goldfish crackers). Baby Billy won't be bested, so he challenges Javier to a duel. Javier beats him at magic, math, art...and even in the final showdown (a tricycle race). This, of course, prompts the return of the bad-guy mustache. When Javier produces a bad-guy beard, a wrestling match ensues—and ends in timeout. Billy wanted Javier as a sidekick, but he became a bitter rival; can Baby Billy figure out how to salvage the situation? Heos and Ang's sequel to Mustache Baby (2013) is more arch cuteness. A couple highfalutin references (Dali vs. Van Gogh in the art contest) and big words ("competitiveness") may miss the target audience, but kids will see themselves and their less-successful play dates in Billy and Javier's first meeting. Ang’s cinematic cartoon illustrations are again a joy.
More a Mustache Toddler now but still getting into hairy situations, Baby Billy's still good fun. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-544-36375-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series.
Another creature is on the loose.
The long-running series continues its successful formula with this Hallmark card of a book, which features bright illustrations and catchy rhymes. This time, the mythical creature the racially diverse children set out to catch is an absent mom who does it all (lists of descriptors include the words banker, caregiver, nurse, doctor, driver, chef, housekeeper, teacher, entertainer, playmate, laundry service, problem solver, handywoman, cleaner, and alarm clock) but doesn’t seem to have a job outside the home and is inexplicably a dinosaur. As the children prepare gifts and a meal for her, the text becomes an ode to the skills the Mamasaurus possesses (“Day or night she’s always there. / She meets every wish and need”) and values she instills (“Sometimes life can mean hard work,” “kindness matters,” and “what counts is doing your best”). This well-intentioned selection veers into cliche generously sprinkled with saccharine but manages to redeem itself with its appreciation for mothers and all that they may do. Endpapers include a “to” and “from” page framed in a heart, as well as a page where young gift givers or recipients can draw a picture of their Mamasaurus.
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781728274300
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Still, preschoolers will likely savor this mouthwatering treatment of a subject that looms large in many early school...
The familiar theme of the challenges facing a new kid in town is given an original treatment by photographer Border in this book of photos of three-dimensional objects in a simple modeled landscape.
Peanut Butter is represented by a slice of white bread spread with the popular condiment. The other characters in the story—a hamburger with a pair of hot dogs in tow, a bowl of alphabet soup, a meatball jumping a rope of spaghetti, a carton of French fries and a pink cupcake—are represented by skillfully crafted models of these foods, anthropomorphized using simple wire construction. Rejected by each character in turn in his search for playmates, Peanut Butter discovers in the end that Jelly is his true match (not Cupcake, as the title suggests), perhaps because she is the only one who looks like him, being a slice of white bread spread with jelly. The friendly foods end up happily playing soccer together. Some parents may have trouble with the unabashedly happy depiction of carbs and American junk food (no carrots or celery sticks in this landscape), and others may find themselves troubled by the implication that friendship across difference is impossible.
Still, preschoolers will likely savor this mouthwatering treatment of a subject that looms large in many early school experiences. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 29, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-16773-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
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